Barriers
by Chyck
Summary: SPD - Bridge can’t sleep, and it’s all Sky’s fault


Disclaimer: Not mine, belongs to those other guys

Summary: Bridge can't sleep, and it's all Sky's fault

Timeline: Set before, during, and after "Walls"

Random comments: Bridge looked really tired at the beginning of "Walls," this is why. And yes, I took the liberty of giving him a stuffed animal. If Syd can have one, so can he

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was either very late at night or very early in the morning, depending upon how one looked at it. Most of the SPD cadets and personnel slumbered; blissfully unaware of what went on around them. A handful remained awake, but they were used to it. It was, after all, what the night crew was paid to do. One person, however, was not pleased to be awake at such an hour. Not pleased at all…

Bridge looked at his alarm clock for what felt like the millionth time that night. It read 3:42AM, exactly five minutes after he had last checked. No matter what he did, what position he was in, or the number of pillows that covered his ears, he could not sleep. Nothing helped block out what was coming from the other side of the room.

He glared at the reason for his insomnia. Sky, his usually calm and collected, if not overly cool, roommate, was slumbering away. Bridge had chosen to room with him based upon that stoic attitude. Few things phased the unflappable Sky. Or, at least, few things that the blue ranger ever let get to the surface. In essence, he was the perfect roommate for a psychic, who often needed a reprieve from the raw emotions that others projected.

Lately, however, Sky had been a less than perfect roommate. Not only had he been getting more nitpicky about cleanliness, but he was single-handedly keeping Bridge awake at night. The green ranger huffed, giving up on sleep for the time being. He shot another death glare in the direction of Sky's bed.

He fumbled around for his most recent mechanic magazine and considered the problem. The blue ranger's negative projections had begun as soon as Jack took the position of red ranger. At first, he had been able to dismiss them as typical 'Sky grumpiness.' Bit by bit, however, his emotions were being exuded stronger and more vehemently. Bridge didn't understand why. Shouldn't he be learning to accept his rank, not getting more irate about it?

"If you took a picture, it would last longer." Bridge startled as his groggy roommate rolled to face him. Sky grunted and glanced at his alarm clock. He groaned "What are you doing up at 3:45 in the morning? Sleep is kind of a necessity, you know."

"Well, if someone would stop broadcasting his thoughts like a radio on steroids, I'd be asleep!" Bridge snapped, forgoing the search for his magazine.

"A radio on steroids?" Sky scrubbed at his eyes and sat up. "Has anyone ever told you that you're really weird?" Bridge just glared at him. "What?" he asked.

"You totally missed the point of that, didn't you?" Bridge sat up as well, grabbing his stuffed dinosaur and resting his chin on it.

"The point of…?" Sky cleared his throat, letting his annoyance seep into his voice "Tell me. What was the point?"

"You!" Bridge squawked. Sky raised an eyebrow. "The point is you! What's got you so ticked off that you feel the need to project _that_ much negative energy?"

"_That's_ what's keeping you awake?"

"Yes!"

Sky paused, thinking. "Well, I guess I apologize for that. I'll stop doing it or something" he dismissed his roommate. As he went to lie back down, a well aimed stuffed dinosaur whacked him in the head. "Bridge!" it was his turn to squawk "What gives? I said I'd stop!"

"First of all," the green ranger snapped "You can't. I'm a _psychic_ remember? I hear you whether I want to or not. Second of all, that's just not how it works. If you're going to keep me awake night after night, I deserve to know why."

"I already apologized. Like I said, it's not like I mean to." Sky glanced at the stuffed animal he still held. "Dinosaur?" he offered.

Bridge frowned at the peace offering. "Why?" he repeated.

"Look," Sky sighed "I've been completely honest concerning my feelings about Jack. I don't trust him, I don't really like him, and I still think the red ranger should have been me, not him."

"So why have you been getting more upset instead of less? Syd and I weren't too keen at first, either, but we're getting used to it."

"He just spent the last week bossing us around instead of leading us" Sky explained. "That made you mad too, if you recall."

A silence fell over the room. Bridge couldn't think of a response to that. Was Sky simply still reeling over Jack's most recent actions? He took a deep breath and let it out shakily. He hated to argue. "I'm sorry" he apologized, standing up. "Maybe I'm just fried by the lack of sleep or something." As he reached for his stuffed dinosaur, his ungloved had accidentally touched Sky's bare arm.

_Flash! Hurtangerpainshamebetrayal Flash!_

Sky looked shocked. What had just transpired? Bridge yanked the dinosaur back angrily. "You lied to me" he growled.

Sky ignored him and stood up. "I'll jog now so you can get some sleep" he said, pulling out a blue hoodie.

"You lied to me" the green ranger repeated. Sky continued to act as if he weren't there and pulled the sweatshirt over his head. "Someday you're going to have to let down your barriers, Sky."

"Not today" the blue ranger responded, yanking his sneakers on as he went through the door.

Bridge collapsed onto his bed as the door slid shut. He lifted the dinosaur in front of his face. "How does he expect me to sleep now, Mr. Oliver? Stupid jerk…"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Bridge cheered up once the sun had risen and his friends were awake, but maintained his distance from his roommate. Sky, for his part, didn't seem too enthused to approach him, either.

During their morning sparring session, they never fought one another. At breakfast, they sat on opposite ends of the table and never exchanged a glance. Somehow they even managed not to speak during zord simulation training, which was impressive being that they controlled the legs. If the others noticed, they didn't mention anything.

As training wound down for the morning, Syd suggested a game of lightball, to which all but Sky readily agreed. The blue ranger decided to focus on his reading and popcorn eating skills instead.

The game went on for a while, but Bridge's lack of sleep eventually got the better of him. When the ball slammed painfully into his chest, his words "All right, mental note, walls are not always your friend" weren't just aimed at himself. As the other three kept playing, he gazed at Sky, who had frozen in the middle of lifting a piece of popcorn to his mouth to stare back.

Bridge felt slightly bad for Sky when he and Jack received their new bikes, and even worse when Kat snapped at his roommate.

By the time B-squad had saved the diamonds from the Krybots and Sky had saved all of their asses despite being angry with them, the green ranger was ready to forgive his roommate. Sky was just a private person, and Bridge figured that since he was anything but, it was simply a difference in view.

Unfortunately, when he volunteered to watch the diamonds, Jack chose Syd and Sky to do it, instead. The blue ranger was sure to be in a pissy mood after that. Talking would have to wait until later.

When Sky disobeyed Jack's direct order and left the diamonds, Bridge was confused. Why would Sky, the ultimate by-the-book individual, do something so foolish?

Later that evening, after the group had cleaned themselves up and Sky had been reamed out by Cruger, Z suggested another game of lightball. Apparently she had enjoyed her earlier victory. Syd insisted that their resident grump be invited to play, citing that he was finally opening up. Bridge didn't believe her.

However, when Jack returned with said grump a few minutes later, he was forced to reconsider.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

An hour later, Sky had indeed trounced the others thrice over as promised, and everyone dispersed. Z demanded a personal rematch with the blue ranger later that week, to which he smirked and agreed.

The two roommates headed for their room, neither sure of what to say to the other, let alone whether something should be said at all.

Bridge flopped back on his bed, exhausted. Sky pulled his lightball glove off and placed to next to the picture of his father. He gazed at the photo for a long time. Just as Bridge was drifting off, Sky spoke. "I'm sorry." It actually sounded sincere.

The green ranger sat up, oddly in the same position he'd been in earlier that morning. "So am I" he admitted. "I was tired and cranky and I shouldn't have taken it out on you." He looked up hopefully "I am still here, though, if you want to say what's on your mind" he prodded quietly.

Sky wiped his hand down his face, still not facing the younger ranger. "You don't have to apologize" he said. "In fact," he snorted softly "I should probably appreciate it. No one ever asks me that kind of stuff." He rubbed at the back of his head and frowned bitterly "Probably because I never answer."

"It's okay" Bridge said. "I know you're a private person, and it's cool. I'm just not used to it, you know?" Sky nodded. "Probably just like you're not used to someone so open?" he suggested.

"You got that right" Sky chuckled. "We're quite the pair, huh?" Instead of sitting on his own bed, he placed himself next to Bridge on his. He looked a little strange there; a spot of blue among so much green. Bridge waited.

Sky took a deep breath, letting it out shakily. He didn't know where to begin. It was such unfamiliar territory, talking about his emotions. But Bridge had a right to know. He was his roommate, after all.

"Just talk" Bridge prompted.

"You guys all suck" Sky blurted out before he could stop himself. Bridge laughed. "I worked so hard day after day to be the best. I am the best. But Jack still took it out from under me. I'll figure out what I did wrong later, but that's not the point" he paused. "What really got me… was you and Syd." Bridge startled at that, surprised.

"I know I'm not the nicest guy" he continued. "I don't intend to be… but I thought… I don't know… I thought…" he stopped for a long moment.

"You thought what?"

"I thought you guys had more respect for me than to just turn tail and give your loyalty to someone else." Bridge was taken aback. That wasn't how it happened, but perhaps that was what it looked like to Sky. "He just came in and took my place " Sky mumbled. "I have to make myself useful somehow, which is why I jumped into that battle instead of staying with the diamonds." he hunched over, seemingly deflated. "What a stupid move that was."

Bridge laid a hand on the older man's shoulder. He finally understood. "Sky," he said, his voice begging the other to understand "Syd and I didn't 'become' loyal to someone else. We adapted. We welcomed Jack and Z in because whether we wanted to or not, that had already become a part of B-squad. Plus, they aren't such bad guys" he smiled. "It's not like we adopted them at face-value. You saw what happened when Jack behaved like an ass. We told him to take a hike!"

"…And then let him waltz back in like nothing had happened."

"If we didn't let people learn from their mistakes, we'd be out two rangers, wouldn't we?" Bridge smirked,

Sky rolled his eyes "Point taken." He went to get up.

"I'm not done yet." Bridge pulled Sky back onto the bed. He placed his hands on either side of his roommate's head, forcing their eyes to meet. "You may not be the official leader, but you're our best fighter, Sky. You're a great strategizer and we all look to you when there's no way out because we know you'll find it. You saved our lives earlier today and it's not the only time you've done it." Sky still wasn't believing him.

"No one could ever… ever replace you." Sky was stunned into silence. Bridge pulled one of his gloves off and placed his palm on the side of Sky's head once more.

_Flash! Hurtangerpainacceptanceconfusion Flash!_

The betrayal was gone. "What's got you confused, now?" Bridge asked.

"Well" Sky paused and half-smiled "If I'm so great, then why _aren't_ I the red ranger?" The green ranger gaped at him. "I'm kidding… joke? I can make them you know." He stood and stretched. Their moment was over.

"At least you get to sleep tonight" he continued. "Commander Cruger's got me on night shift for the next two weeks, which…" he cheked his watch "Starts in ten minutes." He grabbed his jacket out of the closet and shrugged it on.

"That sucks" Bridge said. Sky looked at him as if that were the most obvious thing in the world. He turned to leave. "Hey Sky?" the tall man turned back. "Is that all it was?" He knew it wasn't.

Sky sighed through his nose. "I think I've had enough of this 'bonding' thing for the year."

Bridge smiled "You're right" he concessed, then grinned "You're not the nicest guy." Sky cocked an eyebrow and left the room.

"What do you think, Mr. Oliver," Bridge pulled out the stuffed dinosaur. "Did we help him or did we break him?"

The doors slid open again and Sky poked his head in. He glaced at Bridge, then found the floor very entertaining for a minute. When he looked up, his eyes were honest "Thanks." He refrained from saying and more and pulled back outside. The door slid shut.

"Well, what do you know" Bridge muttered. Sky certainly wasn't at the level of happy flowers and ladybugs that he wanted him to be, but at least he had opened up a bit. 'And I'm back to making really bad analogies' he thought. That thought in mind, Bridge changed into his pajamas and collapsed into bed. He was more than ready for a good, uninterrupted night's sleep.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Maybe I should have titled this "A rather girlish moment between roomies"  – RR?


End file.
